Turkey Stock/ Soup Question

[DTro]

Happy Sunday!

I cooked a 14 pound turkey yesterday. I bought it after Thanksgiving for $7. The bird was spatchcocked and roasted over a bed of stuffing. After carving the meat, I dropped the carcass, wingtips, uncooked backbone and neck into an instant pot with some celery, carrots and water. Today I have this flavorful, golden, gelatinous stock. Usually, after scraping the top layer of fat from the stock I get thick liquid. This stuff is jello!

So I am wondering, should I dilute this stuff when I make soup today or use it whole?

By the way, that 14 pound bird only netted 4.5 pounds of clean meat, no skin, bones or fat. I could have picked the carcass better, but knew I was making stock, and the guy carving may have snuck a bit while carving

[OC Sandy]

That gelatinous goodness is from the collagen you got from the bones. It will liquefy once it's heated up. No need to dilute it at all unless you think the flavor of your stock is too strong, once it's liquid again. That's the sign of some good broth/stock!

[JCBBQ]

Yep.

[DTro]

Thanks- Gives me a good starting point!

[SheilaAnn]

+2

[TripleB]

Turkey noodle soup (TNS) is a delicacy in my house after Thanksgiving. It is more prized than the bird itself. We make 4x more gravy than is needed for the Thanksgiving day meal and then add the left over gravy to the soup broth a few days later.

I have a quart of TNS (aka liquid gold) in the freezer for my brother when he visits.

[DTro]

I have a bit of extra gravy from yesterday- Might have to drop that in my soup today!

[Brewmaster]

Try roasting the carcass in the oven or on the grill for 1 hr to 2 hr at 350 in a shallow pan with some water to keep it from drying out, it amps up the flavor. Then make your broth

[Mosca]

Turkey soup is awesome. Since you made stuffing, you can make soup dumplings with the leftovers. Just make your regular dumplings (eggs, milk, flour, salt, a little baking powder) and stir in the stuffing. If you want proportions, use google, I just eyeball it.

[DTro]

Mosca, that sounds next level!

[Mosca]

DTro I checked my notes. 2 eggs and 6 Tablespoons of flour to 2 cups of stuffing. I don’t use baking powder in stuffing dumplings, they’re not that heavy.

[SheilaAnn]

This is next level and I love it. I did this last year!

[JeffJ]

When I make Turkey or chicken stock and put it 8n the fridge it always looks like that. I recommend you don’t dilute it. Poultry stock is fairly mild in the first place. Keep it as amped up as possible.

[DTro]

Appreciate the input everybody! Results below with Mosca turkey stuffing dumplings. I ended up not diluting the stock and the Mrs. totally enjoyed the dumplings. She said to say Thank you! Good stuff-

[Mosca]

Nice job. I think I like the turkey soup more than I like the turkey itself! And the stuffing dumplings are so good, I make an extra quart of stuffing just for that.

[SheilaAnn]

And it gives you a shiny coat (hair) and strong nails.